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Monday, May 15, 2017

North Korea, defying calls to rein in its weapons programme, fired a
ballistic missile that landed in the sea near Russia on Sunday, days
after a new leader came to power in South Korea pledging to engage
Pyongyang in dialogue.

The U.S. military's Pacific Command said it was assessing the type of
missile that was fired but it was "not consistent with an
intercontinental ballistic missile". The U.S. threat assessment has not
changed from a national security standpoint, a U.S. official said.

Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said the missile could be a new
type. It flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North
Korea's east coast and Japan. North Korea has consistently test-fired
missiles in that direction.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the missile
landed 97 km (60 miles) south of Russia's Vladivostok region.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the launch a
message by Pyongyang to South Korea after the election of President Moon
Jae-in, who took office on Wednesday.

"You first have to get into Kim Jong Un's head - which is, he's in a
state of paranoia, he's incredibly concerned about anything and
everything around him," Haley told ABC's "This Week" program, referring
to North Korea's leader.

Haley added that the United States will "continue to tighten the
screws," referring to sanctions and working with the international
community to put pressure on Pyongyang.

The White House mentioned Russia in its earlier statement about the
launch. "With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil – in fact,
closer to Russia than to Japan – the President cannot imagine that
Russia is pleased," the White House said, referring to U.S. President
Donald Trump.

The launch served as a call for all nations to implement stronger sanctions against North Korea, it added.

The missile flew 700 km (430 miles) and reached an altitude of more than
2,000 km (1,245 miles), according to officials in South Korea and
Japan, further and higher than an intermediate-range missile North Korea
successfully tested in February from the same region of Kusong,
northwest of its capital, Pyongyang.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the exhibition of utensils and
tools, finishing building materials and sci-tech achievements organised
by the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces in this undated photo
released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May... REUTERS

An intercontinental ballistic missile is considered to have a range of more than 6,000 km (3,700 miles).
North Korea is widely believed to be developing an intercontinental
missile tipped with a nuclear weapon that is capable of reaching the
United States. Trump has vowed not to let that happen.

Experts said the altitude reached by the missile tested on Sunday meant
it was launched at a high trajectory, which would limit the lateral
distance it travelled. But if it was fired at a standard trajectory, it
would have a range of at least 4,000 km (2,500 miles), experts said.

Kim Dong-yub of Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies
in Seoul said he estimated a standard trajectory would give it a range
of 6,000 km (3,700 miles).

"The launch may indeed represent a new missile with a long range," said
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics,
referring to the estimated altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles).
"It is definitely concerning."

Speaking in Beijing, Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's
spokesman, told reporters Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had
discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the latest
missile launch, and expressed "mutual concerns" about growing tensions.

Putin is in Beijing for a conference on a plan for a new Silk Road.
Delegations from the United States, South Korea and North Korea are also
there.

The launch, at 5:27 a.m. Seoul time (2027 GMT Saturday), came two weeks
after North Korea fired a missile that disintegrated minutes into
flight, marking its fourth consecutive failure since March.
'CLEAR VIOLATION'

South Korea's new president Moon held his first National Security
Council in response to the launch, which he called a "clear violation"
of U.N. Security Council resolutions, his office said.

"The president said while South Korea remains open to the possibility of
dialogue with North Korea, it is only possible when the North shows a
change in attitude," Yoon Young-chan, Moon's press secretary, told a
briefing.

Moon won Tuesday's election on a platform of a moderate approach to
North Korea and has said he would be willing to go to Pyongyang under
the right circumstances, arguing dialogue must be used in parallel with
sanctions.

China, North Korea's sole main ally which nevertheless objects to its
weapons programmes, called for restraint and for no one to exacerbate
tensions.

"China opposes relevant launch activities by North Korea that are
contrary to Security Council resolutions," China's foreign ministry said
in a statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said North Korea's missile launches
were a "grave threat to our country and a clear violation of U.N.
resolutions".

Ambassador Haley said the launch was not the way for North Korea to earn
a meeting with Trump, who has said he would be "honoured" to meet Kim
Jong Un under the right circumstances.

Trump said in an interview with Reuters in April that a "major, major
conflict" with North Korea was possible but he would prefer a diplomatic
outcome. On Saturday, a top North Korean diplomat said Pyongyang was
open to dialogue with the Trump administration under the right
conditions.

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies think tank in Washington, said among the responses
expected from the Trump administration would be further pressure on all
countries to fully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions
resolutions against North Korea.

North Korean attempted but failed to test-launch ballistic missiles four
times in the past two months. It has conducted various tests since the
beginning of last year at an unprecedented pace. It also conducted its
fourth and fifth nuclear tests last year.

(Additional reporting by Dustin Volz and Matt Spetalnick in WASHINGTON,
Linda Sieg and Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO, Christine Kim in SEOUL, and Ben
Blanchard and Denis Dyomkin in BEIJING; Writing by Jack Kim and Soyoung
Kim; Editing by Neil Fullick, Robert Birsel and Will Dunham)